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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. firm — steady
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — a coil
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bound — obliged
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. spring — the season
  10. bound — tied together
  11. drill — a practice
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. prune — to trim
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. wax — to grow
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. drill — the tool
  18. bound — certain
  19. wound — an injury
  20. firm — decided
  21. firm — a company
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. drill — army training

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com